Kimi No Todoke: From Me to You Season 2 Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

Yeah we’re back with the next Kimi No Todoke season already! Unfortunately this one isn’t quite as solid as the first season. I do have to deduct a star for the characters taking Ls all over the place in a lot of situations where things should have been easily resolved. The drama feels quite a bit forced in a lot of ways. Ultimately I would say the show still goes back to its more wholesome roots in time but it’s not quite the carefree adventure that season 1 was. Of course it’s not a bad thing to get more serious and dramatic but you really have to earn it and I don’t feel like this season did.

After the events of the fist season, Kazuhaya and Sawako are a couple now. They did spend Christmas and New Year’s together after all so things were going great. Wait…they’re not together? Wait a minuteeeeeeee….and so the drama begins! All right so I know this can actually happen to some people where they don’t clearly assign the labels and don’t know that they’re dating but this is a bit much. Spending the holidays together in an obviously romantic setting should signal some bells. This isn’t even a case of the characters being together and just being embarrassed about their friends knowing. This is both characters actually thinking that the other may not see them romantically. Looks like Ayane and Chizuru are going to have a whole lot of work ahead of them. Particularly when a new guy named Miura shows up to stir the pot.

This season is about half the length of the first so it’s not very long and yet it should have only been 2 episodes based on the events that happen. Lets quickly talk about some of the plot conveniences here. First up, for Valentine’s Sawako makes everyone chocolates instead of Kazuhaya. Her reasoning is that they’re friendship chocolates and so she feels awkward because she’s not sure if it’s really friendship with him. So what does she do? She doesn’t give him anything and goes home. I’m also not giving her any excuses like Kurumi getting in her way because Kurumi just offers up a level 1 mental games remark that works for some reason.

At this point Sawako just needs to do better, particularly since Kurumi said they are rivals now. So she’s not going to go easy on her right? Well, Kazuhaya feels bad after that but he still tries. He says good morning to her the next few days and everything…but Sawako ignores him because she is feeling too flustered. She’s happy that he is talking to her but doesn’t know what to say. The problem is that part of her character has always been talking to explain things so there are no misunderstandings. Now she is suddenly the one being silent. At one point he even walks up to her and straight up asks what is going on and she has no real answer.

Meanwhile he has to watch the new guy Miura talking to her constantly, telling her to smile and all kinds of stuff. She is able to chat with literally everyone normally…except for him. It doesn’t help that he gets advice from lots of characters about how he doesn’t really understand her and everything. So a lot of this is on her for not communicating.

Finally he does make a big flub where he decides to confess but does it in such a roundabout way that it doesn’t work. “I like you” is the worst possible way to confess your feelings because it is probably the only main phrasing that could be misinterpreted. Then he and Sawako both have a parallel conversation where they misunderstand each other. I give Pin all the credit there when he told Kazyhaya that he blew it. Cmon you can do better than that. So then next Kazuhaya tries to be more distant so he doesn’t bother Sawako and everyone gets on his case about that.

In this case I’ll defend him. What else is he supposed to do? From his point of view, Sawako just flat out rejected him so he should give her a little space right? He’s not being mean or anything, that’s just a logical step. Of course meanwhile everyone else knows what is going on but aren’t telling him or Sawako. So yeah a lot of the drama here just doesn’t work. They could have texted each other at any point, actually spoken some words, etc. This season would have worked better in a way if the events were earlier on. Like before Christmas since they were at least slightly more distant before. By this point it’s just too late in the game.

Ironically the main romance was a lot more complete and natural in season 1 when it had to share with Chizuru while this season is all for them and now everything is going wrong. It’s still better than most Shojo romances by far because there are no rebounds for either of them and neither one of them ever even thinks about someone else. Even while their relationship is rocky, both characters want to find a way to make it work. That’s what puts the romance above the average one. The whole drama in this one is still out of left field and makes no mistake but if you think about it as a test, both still pass in loyalty.

The ending also would work as the ending to the series with the plotlines wrapped up. This time they both very clearly admit to dating so there should be no way for season 3 to reverse this. If they do then that would be absolutely crazy. Far as I’m concerned the rest of the series should just be about the two of them hanging out and making lots of fun memories. That’s the kind of wholesome series I signed up for after all. The show can feel free to dodge the usual story beat of having everyone find a partner as well. Just let them all hang out solo and focus on the main duo.

So even with the drama, Kazuhaya is still a good main character. He may have run into some issues but I do think he still fought for Sawako fairly hard. He still shuts down anyone trying to give her a hard time and does his best to be a good role model. The guy has a quick fuse and gets jealous easily so the fact that he’s always so nice and pleasant around Sawako is good. As you can guess from the earlier summary I’m a bit harsher on Sawako here. I feel like she did a lot of backsliding in terms of development.

Her season 1 character felt a little more self assured and confident. I feel like she would have spoken up in a lot of these circumstances and not let things go quite so far. She could have easily stopped the drama in the first place and then it would not have been an issue. By the end of the season she has regained her composure so that puts her in a good spot at least. Hopefully in the next one she can be solid from start to finish and then we will really be in business.

Meanwhile Ayane is still solid as always. With all of the drama in place she really has to work overtime to make sure that things don’t go wrong. In some cases she doesn’t find out the info right away so she isn’t always there to help but I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to be 100% tapped into all of the drama at all times. There’s just too much information but she is a caring person and has the confidence that Sawako needs. So at least that’s someone she can always count on.

Then there’s Chizuru who gets less to do in this season since her plot is done with. Right now with her and Ryu nothing’s really developing so they aren’t taking up the screentime there. She does her best to help Sawako out as well even though she doesn’t always understand the situation. She means well. Then Ryuu gets to help out a bit with Kazehaya. He’s really the only person that the main guy can turn to and it is important to have at least one friend. Ryuu doesn’t tend to talk much but even just having him around to listen is good.

Quick shoutout to say that Joe is still the worst character. Even Kazehaya has to tell him off at one point. Kurumi doesn’t get as much to do here but she is a solid rival. She tells Sawako the tough truths when necessary and always does it in a way where it sounds like an attack even though she is helping out. Now those are some serious skills. I can definitely appreciate that. She even slaps the new guy Miura in what was a pretty impressive animation moment with how fast she went. She’s like Ayane, but even tougher. Kurumi definitely turned out to be one of the best characters and in this season at least, she is second only to Pin.

Pin still gets the top spot of course. Do I even need to go into why that is? The guy is always ready for a lot of advice. Like Kurumi he tends to put on an act (It’s a different act though) but sneaks in some good nuggets of wisdom into his speeches. The characters rarely ever give him any props but he does look out for his students. I’d even say he does a very good job of it, the main characters would have taken longer to get back together if not for him.

Finally there is the new character Miura. So his gimmick is that he’s a nice guy and that’s a pretty good one but of course the characters don’t trust him. There’s a reason why the term “Nice Guy” is pretty much a meme at this point. Someone who acts super nice usually has something that he is hiding and doesn’t end up being all that pleasant at all. I would even say he already starts to break character here as he asks Sawako out like 3 different times. It’s my main problem with him. For the most part he’s a fun character and I do like that he’s trying to help but it goes too far when he actually tries to insert himself like that.

It makes you doubt all of the previous advice and if he was actually trying to help her or just intentionally trying to cause misunderstandings. So like 95% of his scenes are good for the character but the remaining ones hurt. I think he’s an interesting figure that does add a lot to the mix though. I like the idea of a character who wants to play cupid for everyone while avoiding a relationship of his own but you know that this can’t last. Inevitably he will be paired up with someone and then that will be the end of his big character arc. He’s a meddler right now but at least one you could make a decent case for. The guy does lose objectivity when it comes to Sawako though. Pretty crazy that the series only really had one big new character right? Just goes to show that this series doesn’t need to inflate the cast.

As for the technical aspects, the soundtrack is good. There’s one theme that I always tend to enjoy and while the soundtrack isn’t large, it tends to fit the scene well enough. The opening never really caught on for me though. Even romantic shows can afford to have a more fast paced beat if you ask me. Throw in some fun instruments and a lot of energy. Then I will be game 100%. The animation is a noticeable step up from the first season though. The first season had so many scenes where all the details were missing while this one is fairly consistent. It’s still not a top tier show or anything like that but when the improvement is noticeable like this it does jump another level. Particularly after seeing both seasons almost back to back it stands out.

Overall, This second season may not have been quite as pleasant as the first but it’s still a good show. I had a good time either way and compared to other titles it is still rather tame with the drama. One thing I can always be grateful about is that none of the characters did anything irredeemable or major while they were upset. They didn’t say anything hurtful that would need apologizing for later on. The characters are always very mature here even when things are going badly and that’s why the writing in this show is really good. I would definitely say to check this one out and now we just gotta wait for that third season.

Overall 6/10

Seinfeld Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to talk about a comedy series from quite a while ago. This one definitely got a whole lot of seasons to it and to this day is considered to be one of the all time best. I had a good time with it, I would still say that The Office is better and will always be the definitive comedy series but I’d say it’s fair to put this as #2 for now. I know Friends is considered to typically be the third show of the big 3 but I can’t say I have any plans to check that one out for now. Also like most long running shows like this, you can tell that Seinfeld starts to drop off near the end but I would say it’s significantly less of a drop off than the Office since at least this show kept the main character all the way to the end.

The show mainly follows 4 characters on their journey through life although of course there are a bunch of supporting characters. First up is Jerry Seinfeld. He’s a comedian who does pretty well for himself with how he throws money around during the series. It’s well regarded that he’s not rich but he has enough to live well. Jerry is good at his job and his apartment is the usual meetup spot. His neighbor Kramer is the opposite, he’s typically never working, can’t hold a job, and doesn’t tend to be that smart. He’s got street smarts though which helps him out a lot. Then there is George who tends to have a ton of bad luck. He always starts off strong in his endeavors and then something goes wrong. Finally there is Elaine who tends to have highs and lows in her journey. One day she will be the chief executive and the next she is desperately trying to find a man so she doesn’t have to work anymore. With these 4 fighters running around, every day is an adventure!

In a way this show is easier for me to review than most that would be around this length because it’s a comedic title. If it was a long battle Shonen or something I would want to talk about the various arcs, the fights, and different story elements in detail. Since this is more on the episodic side I don’t really have to go that far. I’ll break down the characters but for the most part I can talk about the series at large in general.

One thing that’s pretty interesting to see when going through the show all at once like this are the subtle changes. For example, the first seasons were extremely tame. It seems like you couldn’t show a kiss or get too specific with certain things so they would always have to have a cutaway so you are left with the implication. In the latter seasons they were allowed to actually show all that stuff and go much farther. Naturally that is a downgrade which is part of what made the latter seasons decline a bit. Don’t get me wrong, the series never goes crazy to be sure but it definitely does get more suggestive in the later seasons. The characters all start getting really desperate.

In general the series can be divided into 4 kinds of segments. 1: The characters are really bored and wander into an adventure. 2: The characters are all horny and get themselves into trouble. 3: The characters are overconfident and bite off more than they can chew. 4: The characters decide to all compete with each other. Typically episodes in 1, 3, and 4 tend to be really fun while the ones in the second section can be a bit more hit or miss. Put it this way, the series leans pretty hard into the stereotype that all guys are super desperate for a girl. As the only girl in the party, Elaine has to deal with all 3 of the other guys making passes at her from time to time.

That’s gotta be super tiring, like why even hang out with these guys after a while right? Well, the problem is that it’s the same wherever she goes so at least these guys make her laugh. Her body count by the end of the series is also pretty massive. It’s almost a running gag later on that she goes with pretty much any guy she can get which I didn’t see coming because initially she was very choosy but I guess with age she got more desperate. So none of the characters are pretty heroic.

Put it this way, in the Office, there are a number of characters who are pretty solid. Characters who have their antics and such but seem like good people deep down. None of the main 4 here are actually good people. Elaine doesn’t like pets and even assists with kidnapping one, George is always up to scam someone, Jerry actively behaves like a jerk to anyone who won’t be able to beat him up, and Kramer is the kind of guy who tells everyone’s secrets to everyone and gives bad advice that will destroy your business.

It’s part of what makes the final episode work really well. That was one of the most ambitious 1 hour specials I’ve seen for anything live action. It’s like the Avengers: End Game of comedy show. They manage to bring together characters from all of the past seasons and reference a ton of old episodes. That was super impressive and the perfect way to end the series. The fact that you can watch the final episode and immediately loop back to the first episode is brilliant. You could effectively watch the show on a closed loop that way. Not literally of course with the age differences for all the actors but the show makes it a point to say that none of the 4 character have absorbed any lessons from a previous episode. They are completely unchanged since the beginning.

That’s very rare since even in a comedic show the characters will usually be way different by the end. There will be some kind of a time skip where they were always good people deep down or something like that. Not in this one! Even the way the final episode starts is because the main characters were being jerks and overly aggressive again but this time the cops were around to haul them in. Yeah I could talk about the final episode for ages, it was brilliant.

Back to the humor though, I would say it works more often than it doesn’t. The weekly experience for the show might feel different because then a weaker episode will stay in your mind more. When going through them quickly though, there’s no time to really dwell on a weaker one. You’re always ready for the stronger episodes to come in and take their place. It’s also what I’d call an advantage of sheer numbers. Lets say the show was only 12 episodes long. A bad episode would hurt a lot more than a 100 episode show with 8 bad episodes. The ratio is roughly the same and yet you now have 92 episodes that were really solid and make the others a faint memory.

It does depend on just how bad the worst episodes were of course but in this case lets say the worst episode is like a 4 and the best episode is like an 8. The more important number is the average episode where I would say a 6 is fair. I was close to giving this one a 7 though, it’s right on the cuff. Ultimately what keeps me from putting it higher is I feel like a 7 is the kind of show I would search up on Youtube occasionally. Looking up a best gags video or something like that. I’ve done that for the Office several times and for a bunch of animated shows where I’ve given them a 7, but for Seinfeld I haven’t been tempted to do that and am not sure that I will.

Part of the reason is that Seinfeld’s jokes all tend to need some context to them. You find the episodes funny as you’re watching them but a random clip out of context is not going to do it. This is a show where you at least need to watch the episode as opposed to the Office’s more quick punch type of gag. I will say that you are more likely to get hungry watching Seinfeld than the Office because the main characters are always eating. Seriously you can’t go one episode without them going to the cafe or eating something at home.

Okay now for the main characters themselves. First up is Jerry and I would say that he’s the most entertaining of the 4. The main reason is that he’s the only one who can really succeed on his own. You can have an episode where he is the only primary character and you’ll get some good gags out of him. He’s always got some good lines and I think he has the best facial expressions out of the bunch as well.

The last entertaining out of the 4 would probably be George. He’s more of a support character who needs the lead in order to succeed. On his own the main gags that you can pull out is him being desperate for girls and being super lazy. You don’t get quite as much headway out of that especially in a long running title. In third place would probably be Kramer. He has a lot of fun moments and you also don’t know what to predict with his segments. One moment he will be thinking up a crazy scheme like installing a hot tub in his room and the next he will be organizing a strike of the local bagel shop. Because of how unpredictable he is, there can be a good amount of gags.

Finally for Elaine, it depends which version of her it is. If it’s Elaine the successful entrepreneur then it’ll typically be a good segment. She shows everyone how to run the show or shuts down the soup kitchen when the owner tried denying her service. It’s always fun when she’s on top of her game. If it’s Elaine the man slayer, then the segment’s going to be on the annoying side as she’s either trying to seduce some guy who’s just trying to have a normal day or she’s dominating the guy so hard that she gets bored and has to try and change him. So it’s a flip of the coin here.

From the side characters, the best was the owner of the Mets. (Or Yankees, it was one of those) He’s always talking real fast and making threats everywhere. The guy knows he is good and I love the confidence. There’s also the lawyer who is pretty funny. My only problem with him is that his episodes always end the same way. He comes up with a great lawsuit and then Kramer gives away the win by mistake. Rinse and repeat with no twists.

Newman can be fun. He’s that slimy upstairs neighbor who loves getting freestuff but never helps you when the tables are reversed. Definitely not somebody that you can trust. Most of the long term boyfriends and girlfriends for the characters tend to be on the obnoxious side. They’re just here to mess with the dynamic and cause some friction. You always know that they’re doomed from the start. Also that’s a very high pressure position because the other 3 are constantly judging you the whole time. That can’t really be fun. Also the main 4 are the biggest gossips that I’ve ever seen so then you’re basically on the mainstream news the whole time.

Overall, Seinfeld is a pretty fun show. As with any comedy you sort of have to be in the mood to get into it but from there it’s easy to just binge a lot of episodes. Particularly since a lot of them are stand alones it is easy to do that at any point. The later seasons start to have callbacks and some multi parters but for the most part even those are easy to watch at random. Every episode tend to have some funny moments and some are pretty funny the whole time. I think a lot of the humor works because it tends to be relatable stuff that just gets played up a bit. The latter seasons may get weaker but they’re still good. Ultimately if you’re looking for a good comedy show then I can definitely recommend this one. It has aged well with the jokes and characters and I believe it always will. It’s fairly timeless.

Overall 6/10

Blithe Spirit Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a fairly wacky comedy film from back in the day. This one definitely goes crazy with the ghosts and all but the main character can be fairly annoying. The ending is funny but I would say the film isn’t always able to keep up the momentum. I think it needed to either lean into the slapstick/surreal aspect of the film or have the main character take things a bit more seriously.

So the film starts off with Charles inviting a psychic over to hold one of those trance sessions. He doesn’t actually believe in this kind of stuff but he figures it’ll be good material for a book that he’s working on. After a long and boring sequence of chanting without much actually happening, Arcati leaves and things are back to normal. Charles’ wife Ruth had a good time at least but her day turns upside down when Charles’ ex wife Elvira shows up from the dead. It looks like the seance actually worked and Elvira does not want to leave now. She wants Charles to be all hers and the annoying pat is that he loves the attention. So Ruth has to try and destroy Elvira once and for all.

Destroying a ghost is a very difficult task. Depending on the universe where this is happening, it can be borderline impossible. Still, Ruth is very focused on this objective and even seeks out Arcati, but unfortunately the old lady doesn’t know what to do about this. It’s pretty tragic because she does have real abilities but she really doesn’t have any practical knowledge of the occult. Arcati is also one of the weakest parts of the film in general.

We get quite a few scenes of her trying different tricks and spells to remove Elvira but the problem is that each one takes way too long. Rather than be a fun gag, the film overplays its hand by a considerable amount. The scenes drag on and on and on for such a long period of time. I wouldn’t say that they were all that funny initially but by the end they are more on the unbearable side. That’s a bit dramatic but these scenes do keep the film from being higher.

Additionally I thought Charles was a very poor character. Look, for starters you shouldn’t go on the rebound. After his wife Elvira died, he should have just kept to himself and enjoyed life. This film is a great example of why that is. When she shows up again, he seems to still be in love with her to the point where he doesn’t mind making his current wife feel bad. He continues having in jokes with Elvira and generally being a pest whenever she wants to ask something. Ruth thinks he is crazy for a while because Charles explains things in the worst way possible.

He seems to constantly forget that Ruth can’t hear Elvira and just starts talking. After the second or third time you would think that the result would be patently obvious right? Well, I suppose it was obvious to everyone except Charles. Then even without all of that, he needs to remember that Ruth is his wife now. Sure, he can be polite and cordial to Elvira but not at the expense of Ruth. That’s where the film really trips up because you have absolutely no sympathy for the guy. It’s why the ending works very well at least.

As for Elvira, she’s not the nicest character anyway. She’s constantly insulting Charles. He must have been extremely attracted to her looks because otherwise she treats him like trash over and over again. The poor guy can never even stand up for himself, he’s just constantly being demolished. Also we find out that she cheated on him back in the day and apparently he did the same thing. So both characters are morally bankrupt. That’s just great…..

The only reasonable character here is Ruth. I appreciate that she is fighting hard for her man and trying to destroy Elvira. I feel like she is put through the most the whole time and really has to struggle to stay ahead. by the end she is fed up but that makes sense. If anything Charles really just didn’t deserve her the whole time particularly now that we know about his past. A good relationship needs trust and in this case that just wasn’t there. I do appreciate this film really emphasizing the important or avoiding the rebounds or things can get complicated.

At its best the film gives you some good laughs but it just doesn’t have as many comedic scenes as you would expect. The writing is good but the film is actually playing things rather straight instead of embracing how crazy it is. I don’t really understand the direction they were trying to take the film in. It’s a little too low key when this is a goldmine for different scenarios. Particularly since one scene showed that Elvira can actually make contact with the physical world. That sets up a ton of pranks and different things she can do which would have taken the battle to another level. The film would have to make sure it doesn’t get too mean spirited of course but it is absolutely possible all the way.

Overall, The Blithe Spirit is a film that had a good concept but the execution really missed the mark. I would say the biggest strike against it was certainly the long scenes with the witchcraft trying to defeat the spirits. Every time it would fail and the scenes were just too dragged out. The comedic shenanigans with the ghosts were the best part but the movie needed to commit more. Have them actually fight each other or something. If Charles had been a more likable main character then that would have helped out a whole lot. Instead there is nobody to root for here except for Ruth and there’s not a whole lot that she can do here. For now I would say to skip this one and wait for a better ghost film.

Overall 5/10

Mad Max: Fury Road Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

“All right so here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna make a film about Mad Max where he’s kidnapped for a good chunk of it. He’s still stuck in the same old desert that he’s been for every film in the series and there has been absolutely no progression in this dystopia over all these years. Sounds good?” “Yeaaaaa” This one of those films where you feel bad while you’re watching it because you know that it’s not going to end anytime soon.

So the film starts off with Max being kidnapped by a bunch of ruffians. He manages to come close to escaping but then they capture him again. In the present, he is tied to the front of the car while having his blood continually drained. It’s a really rough spot for him. Meanwhile, a bunch of women decide to break away from this gang and finally claim their freedom. They’re heavily outnumbered though and will eventually be caught. Their only chance might be to team up with Mad Max.

I’ve got a lot of problems with this film as you can probably guess. The real question here is just…where to start. As always the world is super bleak and annoying. The hooligans run the world as always and civilization hasn’t even started. I still question what the point of this whole series is but I suppose that’s neither here nor there for now. There’s nothing interesting to look at and all of the backgrounds are the same. None of the villains are even remotely interesting as they are just edgy randos.

The film also goes more all out on the violence and being generally disturbing this time. This does not do the film any favors in the last. At one point a villain’s spinning around an umbilical cord and you’re just thinking….why? What point does this serve the film? This is one of those cases where the film is so edgy that it just loses the plot all the way through. Then of course you have one of the main women being pregnant while belonging to the villain and this guy basically does whatever he wants whenever he wants.

It’s definitely a tough life when your kingdom is ruled by a madman. At least by the end of the film things will be better but how long will they stay that way? Without a form of government of some kind, the strong will always rise to the top and the power will corrupt them very quickly. There’s just no way around that. So the film doesn’t even leave you with a ton of hope there.

Max is an okay main character at best but I’ve never been much of a fan. It’s not like there’s much to dislike or anything like that, but there’s not much interesting about him either. He’s just a guy who rides on his motorcycle and fights the villains but in this film he got captured so quickly. It’s only thanks to plot armor that they didn’t finish him off to be honest. Furiosa is the main fighter from the women group who tries to lead them off into freedom. She has the most amount of drive and spirit, without her the others definitely wouldn’t have made it.

As it was, one or two of them were ready to call it quits and turn back. Not very smart considering who we’re dealing with here. I suppose there was a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on there. Furiosa is strong and capable so she makes for a good heroine. She practically has to blackmail Max into helping her and then from there she does well with the gun. Hopefully she can use her power to start taking down a bunch of villains and maybe create a society again. That’s all I want at this point, just create something so the world starts to feel more developed and we can get past the endless desert. It’s the only way these films can ever really change.

Otherwise you can hold the last 3 films side by side and play random scenes. It would be hard to know which scene was from which film because they’re all so similar. That’s a really bad sign for any series. At this point even just have Max go into space or something. Get out of the planet and instead of jumping the shark I’ll say that you made the right move. The planet as it is, just stands out for being so grotesque right now.

Maybe if this was a 50s film it could have been a little different. Part of the problem is that every part of this film is like you’re living in the slums. The writing isn’t particularly engaging, all of the villains talk and act like thugs. sure they’re villains but can’t we have at least one sophisticated one? It’s like this brings all of the worst parts of the wild west without any interesting shootouts or anything. I suppose I can at least say that this one had some decent special effects with the sand tornado. It’s not really my thing but it does at least beat being an even more bland film.

There is a lot of action as the characters drive around. I would say that this is a positive except the fight scenes don’t tend to be all that interesting. Even the driving would be a lot better if they weren’t just stuck in the desert the whole time. You can barely see what’s happening at some points. At one point the heroes literally backtrack most of the distance that they had just gone. There’s a story reason for this but you couldn’t help but feel that it was all a waste then.

Even the initial oasis place they were heading for ended up being a waste for the most part. Every time there is some hope, the film is quick to take it away. It’s why I don’t hold out much hope from the ending either. There will always be another gang and more villains without any heroes along the horizon. The series is like an anthology but one where it’s the same story over and over and over again.

Overall, Mad Max takes another absolutely massive loss with this film. The movie is just way too dreary and devoid of any fun. I want to be having a good time here. I want to be grinning ear to ear and laughing at every scene but there’s just no chance to do that. It’s not right and so I don’t have much hope for the future of the series. Maybe it’ll rebound but I wouldn’t count on it. I was pretty close to giving this one a 0 but I suppose there’s just enough going on where it still differentiates itself from the absolute bottom tiers. Definitely stay far away from this title!

Overall 1/10

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

Strap in folks because it’s time for another Mad Max film. These never fail to disappoint me because the series is so big and yet the films always end up being super underwhelming. This one may beat the original but it’s still not a film that is going to stack up all that high. The film is very dreary the whole time without any big fight scenes to really take it to the next level.

The film starts out with Max getting punked as his vehicle is stolen and so he makes his way to a town that is ruled by violence! They have the famous Thunderdome where you have to fight someone to the death. Max is tough but these guys have a lot of strength too. There are two factions trying for control here. The first group is the one who actually runs the place, Master who is protected by his bodyguard Blaster. Then you have Aunty who has dreams of ruling the place but no way to usurp the throne yet. So she asks Max for help and he agrees so he can get his car and get out of there. Was that a wise move?

The film’s title of being beyond the Thunderdome is pretty accurate since we don’t spend much time in the ring at all. Max is out of there fairly quick as he becomes a runaway and then bumps into a tribe of lost kids. These kids have been waiting for the prophecy of someone like Max to come and save them. They have images of the old world and what the Earth used to be like and that has basically turned into legendary stories over the years. Max breaks it to them gently and works with them to stop the other villains.

Here’s one of the big problems with the Mad Max films in general, you have no real reason to care about the plot. Most of these characters are as generic as they come and there is no real escape. The whole world has already been completely obliterated and even if you escape one group, another one will find you before long. Nobody is trying to rebuild society or anything. There is no progress of that from the first film to the last. If anything I’d say it’s gotten worse. At least in the first film you would still see some semblances of humanity. Now it’s all empty desert which I’m guessing is due to climate change or something.

It’s a world that has given up on being saved and so you just don’t really care at this point. There are no particularly likable characters here and just about everyone is corrupt. The kids aren’t evil yet of course but you doubt that they will be able to become upstanding citizens when they do grow up. Assuming they even live that long with how rough things are. The Mad Max universe is like if everyone was forced to permanently be barbarians until the end of time. As if time never actually moved forward because well it can’t. Without someone trying to change things then we will forever be stuck in the era.

It’s a setting that didn’t work the first time and it doesn’t work now. The film is super grim and while this one is less explicit than some of the other titles, it’s still rather painful. Nobody has a good quality of life here and I can’t think of any real happy scenes here. It goes without saying that Max very rarely smiles but unless you count evil smiles, nobody else is really smiling either. So as the viewer…what is left for me? Not much……not much at all.

The special effects aren’t anything to write home about and I can’t think of any good themes either. The big fight between Blaster and Max isn’t even good because it’s really just a lot of jumping. The way it works in the ring, you use any weapon that you get and you are on a harness so you can jump around a lot. It means there isn’t a ton of actual fighting going on. This is good for Max because it’s made very clear that he wasn’t going to last long in a straight fight against such a built guy. On the other hand, you still could have had some good choreography and martial arts if you really wanted to. Unfortunately the film did not want to do that and so that means there weren’t even a bunch of great fights here.

Then I’m not typically a big fan of kids in these things either and this didn’t exactly change that. The kid mean well but they can’t really fight or anything so they’re not all that helpful for the most part. They help with sheer numbers and back up Max by the end but I definitely could have done without that whole plot. Look, in a film like this I can usually at least jump on the movie having a bunch of animal violence, fanservice, or other issues but at least there’s something to really dive into.

Part of the problem with this film is there aren’t even a bunch of topics to tackle like that. There’s nothing you’re super invested in getting into because the film is just boring. The next Mad Max has more to jump into because it’s a much worse film but the Thunderdome? There’s just not much point to it at all. The whole film should have been about the Thunderdome, at least then we would have a tournament even if my hopes would be extremely low. I have serious doubts that the film would really be able to deliver with the big fights here.

Overall, Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome is definitely not very good. It’s not as crazy as some other titles in the series to be sure but it’s just so boring. You just really don’t care about anything and this has to be one of the blandest dystopia worlds that I’ve ever seen. Give me some high tech devices or something at the very least. I want a cool character or something. Maybe throw in some witty banter? We get absolutely nothing like that. There’s seriously not a single interesting thing about the movie so skip this at all costs.

Overall 2/10

Little Witch Academia Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

All right, it’s time to talk about a very wholesome slice of life title. Yeah you could probably throw some other genres into this one but that’s what I think of when talking about this show. It’s got magic, fantasy, and spells but for the most part it’s about the girls living their day to day lives and having a lot of fun. It’s a very pleasant show and one where I do think the animation is part of what helps it turn up to the next level. They had a lot of fun going crazy here.

The show starts off with Akko getting ready to start her first day at magic school! As a kid she always looked up to Shining Chariot and so now this is her chance to follow in the legend’s footsteps. The only problem is that Akko has a very low aptitude for magic. No matter how often she trains, she has trouble performing even the most basic of spells. Throughout the show she has to try and keep her confidence up while watching everyone else easily excel. Fortunately she makes two friends in Lotte and Sucy and even gets a rival in the prodigy Amanda. Along the way Akko may even have to save the world…or at least the school.

So yeah this is one of those shows that can be fairly episodic for most of the run but there are ongoing plots in the background. One of them for example is that their teacher Ursula is a bit mysterious. As the viewer you find out that she is Shining Chariot almost immediately but the characters don’t know that. Part of the mystery is why did she retire in the first place and then additionally, why not just tell everyone?

The only tricky thing with a plot like this is you are always looking forward to it getting more screentime. You want to see what happens with Shining Chariot but typically the show only gives you some breadcrumbs. It’s not until deep in the second half of the show that you get to see her having more action. Even by the end of the series, my favorite episode was easily when she infiltrates the villain, Croix’s base. We get to see why she was the top witch as she’s jumping past enemies and using a lot of crazy acrobatics.

In Chariot mode her eyes and hair even change color. It definitely makes for a perfect disguise in that way since nobody should reasonably be able to figure out her secret. If she’s stressed then her eyes change color though so she has to watch out for that. She’s definitely one of my favorite characters even if her inaction can be a bit annoying at times. She should have told everyone about Croix right away. I know in general she wants to be a nice person and doesn’t want to jump the gun but once lives are at stake then you really have to make a move.

Again this isn’t typically an action series but it certainly happens at times. You have dragons and then near the end you have Croix and her machines. The machines are pretty fun and definitely have a whole lot of uses to them. Croix is also a fun villain. Naturally she does have a backstory and everything but the show committed to her being an antagonist a lot more than I figured. For part of the show I was expecting it to all be some kind of massive misunderstanding. Sure, we find out her reasons for doing all of this but she was actually causing damage and could have easily murdered Chariot and Akko at different points. Croix was really resolute in her goal for most of the run so she worked really well as a villain.

Before I talked about the animation and part of why it’s so good is because of how fast it is. You really feel the speed going by when Akko gets her magic staff and zooms through at super speed. Shining Chariot gets some good animation whenever she shows up and all the action scenes are great. The animation goes one step further though and is also very expressive during normal scenes. I think what caught my eye the most were the facial expressions. Akko always has different funny faces going on when she is frustrated, excited, bored, etc.

It’s the kind of show you could watch on mute and you could always tell what her mood is. I dare say she may have had the best facial expressions I’ve seen in anime. It really helps to play up the humor. For example with standard animation this may have been more of a 6 but it gives the show an extra boost because it’s always just a lot of fun. Now at times the show almost feels like it has some fanservice with how short the costumes are and how the animation is so high budget that the wind is constantly blowing as they’re jumping around but I feel like the show was just careful enough to never go too far there.

There may be a little fanservice here and there but for the most part I really do think the show isn’t going for that. It’s more just showing off the special effects than anything and there’s no perv characters or anything running around. If anything this is a very safe all ages kind of show and it’s even got some nice morals throughout. It’s not a literal “Dear Celestia, today I learned…” but usually there’s something about never giving up, trusting your friends, learning that others have their own problems, etc. So in that way it can almost feel part educational. I think this would have fit right in as a Saturday morning cartoon.

In terms of world building I think the show isn’t always perfect though. It’s always fairly ambiguous just how much the average human knows about the witches. On one hand they have to get investors for the school so the rich people kind of know about it but some seem to think it’s all just a big hoax/scam. That would be fine if the witches weren’t right there but it’s extremely easy to prove that witchcraft is real. I’d have preferred either they went the X-Men route and just pretended to be a normal school, or that everyone just knows about them and they’re cool with it. I feel like the show sort of goes in the latter direction but it’s just not as clear as you would expect.

In terms of the soundtrack, it’s not nearly as memorable as the animation. I’d say it sounds okay. I’m not a big fan of either opening but they work well enough. If the show was more action based then this would be more of a problem but for a slice of life the music isn’t something you focus on as much. As long as it isn’t downright bad then we’re always still in business. Now lets start talking about some of the characters. I wouldn’t say the show’s cast is all that big to be honest. There are a lot of one shot characters and also a bunch of mild supporting characters but for the most part the core cast is never big.

Akko is the main character and she’s a fun heroine. The storyline of the main character not being able to use magic or whatever power is normal in the setting isn’t anything new, but she doesn’t really get a cop out for it. Usually in titles like this, the main character secretly gets the strongest power (Magical Index), secretly always had powers, (Mashle) or gets a power that is just labeled differently. (Black Clover) Notice the cop out here, they can all actually fight. In this case, Akko can use magic to a small degree, she’s just not good at it. She will continue to improve over time but she’s not secretly the most powerful or anything.

At best she gets little glimpses of what a mage would be like by getting a special wand that works for everyone briefly and also with the magic broom. Neither of these are permanent power ups though so she still has to work hard every day. We also get an actual story reason for why it’s so difficult for her and it’s a pretty emotional twist. It really changes the whole dynamic of the show and also isn’t waved away by the end. If we ever got more seasons I’d be curious on what happens next. Akko may get sad at times but for the most part she never stays feeling sorry for herself for very long though.

One of her best friends is Lotte who is more of a brainy type of character. You can sometimes guess a character’s personality and strengths right from the design and this is one of those cases. There’s nothing wrong with Lotte but she’s never one of the more interesting characters. She tends to be fairly quiet and isn’t super ambitious so there just isn’t a lot you can really do with that character in the dynamic. She does have a plotline involving a book series that she enjoys though and that appears several times.

Then there is Sucy and I never became a fan of hers. My main problem is that she’s a little too drastic in her opening appearances. She nearly gets Akko murdered to which she is not apologetic and then tests her poisons and plants on her. She’s not the kind of friend you would want to have. Not only does Sucy always cause a lot of trouble but it’s the lethal kind. You want a friend who might pull some pranks or something on you but would never go quite so far. That’s where you have to put your foot down because it’s gone above the line.

Diana is one of the standout characters here though. She’s the classic genius/prodigy type of character so you know that she has absolute confidence. She’s rich as well which is an added bonus and is always outperforming Akko. By all accounts they shouldn’t even be rivals but Amanda doesn’t really dissuade Akko from this and just focuses on her own techniques. Part of what I like about Amanda is we see many times just how hard she trains and studies. As she tells Akko, she’s not the best because she’s just that talented, it’s because she trains the hardest.

I think more times than not this is true. The people exceling and doing a terrific job have actually put the work in. No matter how much of a prodigy you are, if you never train then you won’t go anywhere. I think it helps Akko see things in a different light and in general Diana is also just a very responsible person. While she has her banter with Akko, Diana never says anything particularly hurtful or ever tries to get in the lead’s way. She’s really a good role model all the way through.

There are a bunch of other classmates around. Some have big roles and some are more on the small side. The one I would mainly say is big enough to get a write up would be Amanda. She shows up a bit later in the show and is like a second rival. She’s super competitive and talks a good game. I thought she added a lot to the dynamic so I was glad to see her around. It’s always good to have another character with a ton of confidence to really shake things up.

For example we already have plenty of quiet characters like Constanze. She’s a genius and great at her craft but she’s not exactly the outgoing type. Nothing wrong with that but it does mean that she won’t tend to be quite as interesting. It’s always nice to see Akko gradually get to all of the characters and break the shells around them though. Also there is one human with a fairly big role and his name is Andrew. He’s the son of one of the biggest investors in the show and he always grew up being told that the witches were scams and not to take them seriously. After meeting Akko he learns the truth and also starts to slowly stand up for himself. So he has a good character arc here and has a lot more confidence than he used to.

The guy was never super timid or anything like that but he did have a tough time talking back to his father. He would just defer to the guy but now he can make his own decisions so that’s always a good thing. In a show like this you can probably imagine that there is some shipping going on, but for the most part this is avoided. I think that’s a good thing since this should just be a show more about having fun. The romantic drama can certainly wait and take a backseat for now. Finding the different inscriptions for the staff is already enough of an active plot to keep you super invested while still having a good time.

Overall, Little Witch Academia is a pretty fun show. It’s a fairly low stakes adventure for most of its run but will dial up the tension from time to time. There’s a lot of fun moments here and some quality characters to follow for the whole duration. You’ll have a good time for the entire run. At most you might just wish there were a few more action scenes for Shining Chariot to show off her skills. Even past her prime and without using her powers she is a complete threat in combat so you wish you could see her in her prime. A prequel starring her as the main character would be great someday! In the meantime I would definitely recommend this show if you’re looking for a solid feel good title.

Overall 7/10

Sword of the Stranger Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for an anime film that got pretty well known back in the day. A lot of people definitely heard of this one before too long for all of those big action scenes. It’s definitely a movie that goes hard as a thriller and there’s always a lot going on but it does go a bit too far on the violence. It’s just so excessive after a point and distracts from what is otherwise a pretty engaging film even if the lead takes too long to really start fighting.

The film starts with a kid named Kotaro and his dog managing to survive out in the cruel world with their wits and speed. They steal food and keep on moving because they are being pursued by many powerful adversaries. For some reason the government themselves seem to want him. He is attacked by an assassin but saved by No Name just in the nick of time. This guy doesn’t really want to get involved but Kotaro says he will pay No Name if he can safely get the kid and his dog over to a certain temple where they should be safe. The dog got poisoned trying to protect No Name so he agrees. What he doesn’t realize is that this will be a much bigger/more dangerous mission than he had ever suspected. Does he have what it takes to survive?

No Name is clearly skilled with a blade and can fight with the best of them but he’s really tried to leave that life behind him. We get a flashback showing what happened but you can probably guess early on since it is a fairly popular trope for wandering swordsmen like this. Perhaps not the exact same circumstances but always something very much like this. He’s a good guy at the end of the day who will protect those in front of him though. It would just help if he would go all out from the start and he probably could have saved more lives that way.

For example, one of the big villains Luo-Lang bumps into him at one point and tries to pick a fight but No Name refuses to draw his blade. It would have created a scene but imagine how different things would be if he had taken that guy down? Then in the climax, No Name misses most of it and only shows up at the very end. The heroes really could have used him there. Although when I talk about the heroes I’m really just talking about Kotaro and the dog. There aren’t really any other heroic figures here when you think about it.

There is a lot of internal strife going on between the Japanese and Chinese forces here. Basically China has started to slowly take Japan over by bringing more and more of their fighters here and the corrupt people at the top of the Japanese foodchain don’t really care as long as they get some profits. So there ends up being some betrayal on both ends. The climax is mainly those two groups fighting each other while No Name has to make it in time to prevent Kotaro from being sacrificed.

What I was surprised about was that the Japanese side actually does pretty well. Luo-Lang and his squad are hyped up as being supremely powerful so you expect them to shred everybody but they actually have their share of losses. I suppose in a way you could just say this is a fair way for thing to play out though. As skilled as they were, they were heavily outnumbered. It was something like 300 against 10 people. So each of the fighters took a ton of warriors down but would eventually succumb. By the time No Name gets there, there are maybe 2 fighters left.

Fortunately the Luo-Lang vs No Name fight definitely lives up to the hype. It is a great action scene with a lot of good choreography all the way. I also liked the intro fight between No Name and the first assassin. Beyond that, there aren’t many more close fights like that. There are a ton of massacre scenes of everyone being destroyed of course but those aren’t so much fights as one sided stomps most of the time. It’s why I give some credit to the climax where the ordinary soldiers actually start getting some wins. I really would never have guessed that this would have happened.

Despite all of the hype and action though, the violence does drag the film down a lot as I mentioned. It’s extremely excessive with characters being tortured and ripped apart. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen this level of violence happening during the fights. If it wasn’t bad enough to see the actual battles like that, they also had to rope the horses in. Part of the problem with films that take place in the past like this is that most of the fighters are all riding horses who get hit in the crossfire. A ton of horses get destroyed along with the human fighters here.

The dog also gets injured early on which is what triggers most of the plot. At least for that one they didn’t go too far with it and you knew he’d be okay but the horses are another matter. That’s definitely something that should have been cut. Even with that the general violence would have probably kept this from being too high either way but it definitely adds another layer.

I will say that the ending itself is really solid. You can interpret it different ways but I would say it’s a pretty happy ending. I think things turned out well and that’s good since No Name is a solid main character. Kotaro is a bit on the annoying side. He’s a kid so that’s to be expected but it would have been great if he could have helped out a little more. The dog was super impressive with how fast he was and how he could grab the weapons in mid air though. That’s not something that most dogs could pull off.

As for the villain side, I generally thought all of the Chinese fighters were fairly cool. I liked the outfits and they were definitely all down to business when the fights started. Luo-Lang stands out the most though for obvious reasons. He’s the most powerful and gets the big fight in the end. He at least has some kind of honor code and wants to win fair and square. The guy just wants to be the strongest no matter what so he won’t claim a fraudulent victory. You need a good villain like that to really keep things interesting.

Overall, Sword of the Stranger has a pretty good plot. The concept is a little better than the execution though. I’m still surprised at how No Name doesn’t get more action scenes with the sword. I really would have changed it so that he had to go through the castle and take out all 10 members on his own. Would have been a great way to show off his skills over a longer period of time. Of course the film would still need to tone down the violence a lot and cut out the horses to really be successful but these are some things I would have done. If the intensity doesn’t bother you then I definitely recommend checking this one out but otherwise you’re better off watching the Kenshin anime.

Overall 3/10

Phantasy Star IV Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

Phantasy Star IV may be known as one of the easiest in the series and all but I had a good amount of trouble with it. The enemies are very dangerous and it takes a long time to level up in order to beat them. I’m always impressed at how people coast by these RPGs on such low levels. It goes to show that there is a whole lot of strategy that you can use once you have really mastered the system. As more of a casual RPG player I had to compensate by getting lots of level ups. So the game took me longer than most but I was still able to clear it.

The basic plot is about the eternal battle between light and dark. The light has won the last few rounds but now The Dark One has returned to cause a lot of mayhem and destruction at every corner. A dark plague has begun to get many people sick and it’s hard to know what to do. The main fighter for the heroes ends up going down early and so her sidekick must prove himself. Does he really have what it takes to fight against ultimate evil when he is still just a kid? Well, he’s about to learn the answer to that because ready or not…this is one battle that cannot be avoided.

Right out of the gate one thing I really liked about this game is that it had actual illustrations during the cutscenes. This is clearly a really high budget Genesis game and it is leagues above all of the others that I have played on the console. This absolutely could have been onto the next console and it still would have worked really well. There are a good amount of cutscenes here in general. The hub world is rather big, particularly since it is split up into 2-3 worlds. You have quick travel which is excellent as well as different vehicles to drive around in.

There are a lot of good quality of life features in here. The enemy spawn rate is rather high so you will be seeing a lot of minions but more times than not, you can outrun them. The only real downside here is that level ups take a while like I mentioned. I feel like the EXP wasn’t set up perfectly because you always feel like the minions should give a little more considering how long the battles take. Once you find the perfect area you can do fairly well with the battles but it’s still more work than the average RPG.

The gameplay is classic turn based combat with different spells, techniques, and physical attacks. You should play around with them and at times you may even use a combo by mistake. This seems to be part RNG but if you choose the right attacks in the right order then your allies will land a hit at the same time. I could never figure this out exactly but it was fun when it would work. Except ironically in one instance where it turned into a combo attack that the enemy boss was immune to, so I lost a turn there.

Aside from the graphics being solid, the soundtrack is also on point here. There are a lot of good themes throughout the game ranging from the battle themes to even the main tune when you first open the title. It has a lot of energy throughout and that’s always a good thing because it really gets you pumped to play the rest of the game. There may not be much replay value once you have beaten the game but the main story is already long enough where that’s no problem. It took me at least 15 hours or so to complete it and apparently there are side quests so you can work on that. Maybe there’s even a post game but I’m not sure how that would work here since beating the game takes you back to the loading page. I would have to double check that.

In terms of tips, this is one of the only games where I would recommend not equipping a weapon for some of your fighters. It’s way better to have the double shields for a lot of defense. Yeah I know that sounds crazy but it’s surprisingly worth it. I initially started out with 5 attack builds but they would all get shredded in an instant. So you want two medics that only heal and can use magic and then the other 3 can have their signature weapons. In general the concept of having to choose between equipping a weapon or shield is an interesting one. It definitely adds some extra depth.

Another reason the game can be really difficult is the way the techniques and skills are labeled. The game doesn’t provide you with any descriptions for any of them and the titles are super abbreviated so it can be hard to tell what does what. You will need to consult with an online guide for that or you will be really doomed there. You definitely need to be using the right abilities to defeat the boss. If nothing else, just test them all out against minions. By the end I was still confused on some of the abilities and why they would work on some enemies and not others…but as long as you beat the bosses that’s what counts.

Overall, Phantasy Star IV is a pretty fun game. Definitely make sure you grind levels quite often or you will get stuck though. I had to reach around level 45 before I was able to beat the game and even then it was super close. The bosses will randomly throw out crazy attacks that down your party sometimes so you have to hope that RNG is on your side. Towns don’t sell many items in this game either so if you get lost in a dungeon then it’s all over. Yeah, I would definitely say that this was one of the harder RPGs that I’ve played.

Overall 7/10

The Secret of Convict Lake Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

This film was okay but I feel like nobody looked all that great here. It could have gone badly for the heroes in a bunch of different ways and by the time they got ready for action it was too late. It’s an interesting scenario to an extent but for the most part I don’t think it makes for a good film. As I’ve said in the past, it can be annoying to have a bunch of villains be the leads or even around the leads so you’re just ready for them to go away.

The film starts off with a bunch of convicts escaping from jail and running across the snowy path. They come to a small village where there are only some women who run it. The men are gone prospecting and won’t be back for some time. The prisoners aren’t in great condition since they are hungry and thirsty plus they are unarmed. The women have all the guns but the convicts make the case for why they should stay…and even have a few threats to go along with it. So they are granted the right to spend the night….is this a wise move?

The obvious answer is No! Lets be real here for a minute, there’s a difference between being nice to your fellow man and putting yourself in an incredibly risky position. There are a million ways that this can go really wrong after all. If you ask me….the only thing to do here is to tell them to keep moving. If they hurl any threats then unfortunately you do have to fire. You don’t have to murder them, just shoot out the legs so they can’t try anything and you can keep them alive until all of the men are back in town.

The fact that the convicts were making threats from the start definitely rubs me the wrong way there. Yeah if it’s too risky don’t finish them off right then but instead wait until they go into the house and then take them out. You have to realize that threats like that have to be taken super seriously because they will likely make good on it. On the women’s side, one of them is elderly and can barely walk and the rest don’t have any experience with a gun. The longer this situation goes, the more in danger they will be.

Particularly since most of them do not really have any survival instincts. At least two women quickly get interested in these guys romantically which is crazy since they have only known them for a few minutes or so. Not very smart. One of them is instantly convinced to keep the affair a secret and to even tell him where all of the guns are. What a traitor. The instant you start telling these guys where the guns are, you have sold out your family to a stranger. There’s no two ways about it, it’s the only real answer there and it’s disappointing.

The main convict is named Jim and he’s the only reasonable one here. Of course that does put him in a tricky spot since that means he’s surrounded by the enemy and is forced to be in close quarters the whole time. He has his own plot going on involving the crime he was accused of. If everyone was evil the main characters would really be in trouble so at least this way there was someone to look out for them. I’d still argue the women needs to know how to protect themselves since you still can’t trust anyone no matter how kind they appear to be. Like I wouldn’t trust Jim no matter what he says because you just can’t afford to. In every circumstance you always have to imagine the worst case scenario and plan accordingly.

The romance here is very weak as well. Jim falls for a lady named Marcia who is engaged but wouldn’t you know it, the guy she is engaged to is rather nefarious. So Jim reminds her that she doesn’t actually love the guy and Marcia agrees….that’s great. It feels like a super weak mindgame that got real lucky somehow. At no point should that trick actually have worked. How are you engaged when you’re not actually in love with the guy? A lot of things just aren’t adding up there. Call me super skeptical over here. Of course it all works out but that was sloppy.

Then of course between the traitor running around and the women constantly forgetting to guard the men, it all gets a bit annoying. The tension is that the men could how up and overpower/murder the women at any point and that’s not the kind of tension that makes you eager to see what’s going to happen. The movie just isn’t very fun and really needed better characters. You need to construct a scenario where the men are around and the women are protecting their house without it only being a tough situation because they are making a lot of mistakes. Like have them sneak into town under the cover of night and they could be anywhere. So the heroines have to protect their stables and different houses while making sure not to be separated for too long. That’s the real trick and I felt like the movie just didn’t go that route.

At least the climax is pretty solid though. We have a good chase scene and an actual fight scene at the end. It makes for a satisfying climax with all of the players involved and some good closure all the way through. It still means you have to get through a rather long first 70% of the film but at least ending on a high note is the best way to make sure you’re not going into the realm of being a bad movie. A bad ending would have absolutely tipped it that way.

Overall, The Secret of Convict Lake is an okay film but one where the characters are really annoying. The convicts shouldn’t have been able to deal nearly as much damage as they did. It revolves around one of the women being a traitor and the grandmother getting sloppy near the end. When one side has the numbers and health advantage as well as all of the guns, they should not leave. They lacked the survivor’s instinct here and so the film is more frustrating than entertaining. It’s not a bad film but I wouldn’t be going out of my way to recommend it or anything like that.

Overall 5/10

My Hero Academia Season 6 Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for the next My Hero saga. This one actually came out a while ago but I at least needed to make sure I got the review up before season 7 starts right? The first half is a ton of nonstop action since it picks up right where the last season left off and then we get the Dark Deku stuff in the second half. It all still feels pretty recent in the manga which shows how close the anime has kept up to it. This is another great season and there’s definitely a lot of great stuff to enjoy here.

So yeah we start off pretty quickly with the pro heroes raiding the enemy base. They have finally figured out where the scientist is growing their artificial Nomu fighters and all of the younger heroes are on standby. It’s a good thing that they were around because the League of Villains warp all of their fighters outside right away so this does become the big war right out of the gate. Everyone is here from Shigaraki to Dabi. Are the heroes prepared to take this many fighters down without their #1 hero All Might? Also they have to keep civilian casualties to a minimum which will be difficult when the villains have this amount of firepower at the ready.

First lets quickly go through the technicals. The animation is really solid here. There was no real dropoff at any point this time so you could always count on a lot of high speed choreography and great special effects. The fights here have a lot of impact and the show just looks really good from start to finish. This is a show that had a really solid budget backing it up. Meanwhile there are a lot of good battle themes here. Some of them are definitely used from older seasons but this season also has some new tunes. It’s a good mix as you would expect.

The pacing is really good with each episode keeping you roped in. The Dark Deku arc after the war could have very easily felt a little too scaled down next to all of that action but it’s an arc that made a lot of sense. After the fight Deku realized that keeping all of the kids safe would be extremely difficult with all of the villains gunning for him. So he chooses to go it alone. He doesn’t even remove all contact or anything. He actually does this in collaboration with the police and 3 of the top ranking pro heroes. As in everything Deku does, he made this plan really logically.

It’s why in the second arc I do disagree with the overall moral. A lot of times in shows or movies there will be a big message where the main hero’s friends and family remind him that he’s not alone. He needs to lean on them more and then they can tackle the opponents as one big unit. It’s a really emotional message of course and I get the logic here but it doesn’t work in this setting. The main message here is that Deku should have trusted his classmates and needs to stick around. They can take care of themselves and the school will back them up. So that’s the argument that is being made. I get the case but lets look at the facts here.

The majority of the students can’t fight at a high level. What can a boy who has a hard tail do against fighters who can light up whole city blocks? Froppy can stick her tongue out while Twice can make thousands of clones that are all powerful. These kids just aren’t ready for combat and that’s not even touching on the fact that the school is doubling as a shelter. This means that tons of civilians who can’t fight at all are also trapped in there. It can’t be very reassuring to see the main target of the villains staying there with you.

I raked Deku through the coals for his decision with Eri a while back but this time I have to say that he was 100% correct and the rest of the cast was wrong. He was being selfless in going out on his own because the villains could show up at any point. They have a tracker quirk meaning they can find Deku at any time. His whereabouts are never a secret so his only plan is to let the villains find him. If he stayed at the school then most of their lives would be forfeit because the villains could just launch a bunch of rockets.

There are some valid counter points like All For One using this as a scheme to tire Deku out but my counter would be…what alternative is there? Don’t tell me going back to school is the answer. Additionally, Deku was very efficient on his own. He takes down Lady Nagant and Muscular on his own and saves other people in the process. Those people would all be dead if he wasn’t out in the field. So….I think Deku just justified his position. Also you have to consider the fact that he is doing this as an official operation with a few heroes. It’s perhaps off the books but he hasn’t gone rogue. The whole Dark Deku thing was handled masterfully and so I wish it could have gone on longer.

This is the only arc in the series that I felt was a bit rushed. There’s just so much more you could have done with this plot. Also contrary to what you may be thinking, it’s not like Deku got super edgy either. He’s still the same hero he always was, but is willing to say “No” and actually disagree with All Might now. He still tries to be a symbol of peace and smile for the people that he is saving, there just isn’t much to smile about right now.

The climax is definitely the cheesiest in the series. Mainly because of the power levels at work here. Uh oh, power scaling?? Yeah we’re power scaling here! Realistically the only hero from Class 1-A who could even hope to tag Deku is Bakugou and even then his overall aerial mobility is not in the same league as Deku’s. Deku should be able to easily dodge him and leave. If this was a fight then it would be tougher since Deku would want to restrain them without hurting them but just escaping? He should have been out of range in an instant. So I didn’t buy into the whole fight and how they were somehow fast enough to keep up with him. No shot imo. It was still a fun arc though and had some really fun action scenes. Both Deku fights that I mentioned earlier were animated really well and the fights had a good amount of tension.

I mean, Deku should have beaten her a lot easier as well, but let me not get too much further into the power levels. At the end of the day, the higher a verse’s power levels start to go, the more you are going to find power level issues. It’s a natural evolution of what’s going to happen there, because how could it not right? Shigaraki for example is so broken now because he just has to touch you and he’s dead. So the show does its best to show why he is never able to touch anyone but now he has hypersonic speeds and is one of the fastest characters in the verse with incredible strength and instant regeneration? The heroes should all be dead. I have to be 100% real with you right now, they should all be 6 feet under. The villains are way too broken at this point. Only a bloodlusted Deku should be able to keep up and everyone else is absolute fodder at this point. Even if we count the pros, only Mirko and Endeavor should be able to fight at this level of combat.

I talked about the Dark Deku arc a lot because that one was always a real highlight and fun to discuss but lets talk about the characters now. Deku has really come a long way throughout these seasons. He’s a confident hero now who can make his own plans and doesn’t need All Might’s approval. It’s a subplot in this season of course with how he’s forcing himself to grow up to protect everyone but he’s still a nice guy beneath it all. He never loses sight of himself and that’s what makes him a capable lead. He’s never been super high tier as far as Jump leads are concerned but he’s easy to root for and one of the better heroes here.

Uravity does well to help out the whole time. She is a character where I feel like her power level isn’t nearly high enough to justify her inclusion at this point though. She means well and as a character of course I can’t fault her because she’s simply doing her best. It’s not her fault that I feel like the plot armor is strong here. I may disagree with her stance on the Deku part but at the same time in her position I would want him to be around to do my part in the protection. No matter how large the strength gap is, it would be hard to see someone out there risking their life while you’re at school. She needs to watch out with the Toga stuff though, being a little too sympathetic to a mass murderer can be tricky.

Bakugou looks great here as always. He still knows how to get under Deku’s skin which helps during the dark saga and in general he always gets into the action. He helps out a lot in the fight against Shigaraki even if he’s a little outgunned next to Deku there. Bakugou never gives up and just keeps on swinging which is the important part. I love his confidence, that is what will take him far here and it’s why he is still the best hero out of them all. He took what many would say is a fairly average quirk and trained it up with so much creativity and intensity that he is one of the most powerful heroes in the series. Very impressive I gotta say.

Then we have Kaminari whose role isn’t huge but I did really like his first war contribution. He fights a villain who has electric powers and diffuses the guy’s strongest attack like it was nothing. Now that’s an impressive moment and it was a good way for him to swing above his station. It was the perfect matchup. In general I feel like Kaminari usually doesn’t get many opportunities to shine so that was a good one.

The other heroes all do some stuff as well. Of course they are all there to help Deku but beyond that everyone makes contributions. (Well almost everyone) Yaoyorozu gets to help with stopping Gigantomachia and coming up with the sleeping drugs. I’m not really sure about this working to be honest but it was a creative way to fight. If she ever trained a bit more seriously I could see her being a top threat in the series. The ability to make anything that you can picture/know the construction of is crazy. If someone ever shows her how to make a quirk destroying bullet then the villains would be toast. And Yes I don’t think that’s too drastic. The mass murderers have to live quirkless now? Well that’s just too bad isn’t it? Shouldn’t have been murdering people!

Ida gets a primary role in talking to Deku since he’s the school rep so you can expect a lot out of him. His super speed’s also the real deal, it’s why it would have been nice to see him do a little more against the actual villains. He’s one of the few kids who could have done something. Meanwhile Jiro doesn’t do a ton here but she helps to inspire Kaminari during his big moment since he’s thinking about her the whole time. Froppy provides a little assistance to Uravity but she is completely out of her depth here.

Mina doesn’t look amazing here as she freezes up when the going gets tough but fortunately Kirishima is around to help out. He definitely looks good here as he’s already gotten past all of his doubts a while back. Then we have Todoroki who gets a fairly big role when you consider his family drama. Uh oh, here’s another big topic that I could talk about for a while. I’ll keep it brief here, no matter how many times it is revisited, there is no saving Endeavor. The guy was super abusive and while it’s great that he’s turned over a new leaf, I get why the family doesn’t want to forgive him. Frankly I don’t see how I ever could if I was in their position. The show gets props for not trying to soften this up the more it goes. We still see what an absolute menace he was back in the day. Ultimately one kid basically destroyed himself trying to impress him, his wife was left with advanced PTSD and his other sun got a permanent burn on his face. The others remarkably turned out okay as they tried to just get by.

It’s just a lot of trauma though and so even if Endeavor were to die in battle saving the world that doesn’t really change what happened. His family plot gets a lot of screentime in each season but after a point you sort of get it. I’d say we don’t need more flashbacks on this, lets just have his big fight with Dabi…and I’m kinda rooting for Dabi in this one. As the viewer we know that he really has changed but in universe of course there would be no way of really knowing that.

Meanwhile Hawks has to deal with some ghosts of his past as well. As to his big moment of finishing off an opponent, I want to say for the record that it was 100% justified. He wasn’t hunting some random person or doing anything crazy. He was protecting himself and his allies from a super dangerous villain who would murder them all without batting an eye. Yes, it’s an emotional betrayal from the villain’s POV, but again…just don’t be a villain next time. I can never fault a hero for “betraying” the villains after setting them up because the hero’s job is to save lives. This is the best way to accomplish that goal.

Hawks also gave Twice every chance to give up but it’s clear that he wasn’t going to. Some of these villains are willing to die to protect their beliefs and so that becomes the only option available. Hawks is still a great hero that you can count on all the way through. He likely won’t be as helpful with his injuries for a while but he’s done really good overall. All Might is an example of a character who can’t do a whole lot right now. Without his powers, all he’s got are good motivational speeches and those aren’t really working anymore. I don’t think he looks great here. He really could have handled the situation with Deku a lot better particularly since a part of him should understand what Deku is going for. It felt like he was way more out of the loop than he should have been with his half hearted attempts to reach him.

Meanwhile Eraserhead looks good as always. The guy is always a primary target because of how extremely useful his ability is. Without him nerfing Shigaraki for most of the battle, the heroes would have really been doomed. At this point the power creep has long since surpassed him but I always give him credit for hanging in there and continuing to fight anyway. He’s a very brave fighter and definitely a hero that everyone can look up to. His partner Present Mic also gets to do a lot althoguh he’s never as impressive. It’s not his fault though, the quirk just isn’t very strong. Every villain worth his salt is able to shake it off which is not something that you want to see as a hero.

Gran Torino also doesn’t have a big role here. He’s got speed but at this point so does the big villain Shigaraki. Maybe in his prime Torino could have done better but not now. Ryukyu just deserves a shoutout for being around while never doing anything. She’s one of the top 10 heroes but is always super outgunned. I think the problem is that turning into a dragon just makes you a huge target. It’s not nearly as useful an ability as you would initially think. That’s the problem here.

Midnight is around but doesn’t look great here. Still one of the most bizarre ways to go out. I know it’s realistic and all but still not very satisfying at all and I’m still waiting for a retcon on this. Mt Lady looks good, perhaps a bit too good. Her feats don’t seem like they should be enough to stall Gigantomachia for even an instant but power levels aside she looks good. She hangs on through the pain and does her best at all times.

Then you have Best Jeanist. The guy shows up a little late to the party but he makes sure that his presence is felt. He has a good hero’s speech for when he arrives and his ability is pretty handy. It may not be the flashiest one around but he still does good in combat the whole time. Then you have Mirko who is easily the best adult here. She goes through a whole lot but has one of the most savage fights in the series. She was super outnumbered and going up against some of the strongest fighters in the series and yet she never went down. It’s a shame that she had to take so much damage there as she would have been super useful in the climax otherwise.

Mirko’s always ready to fight and has crazy stats though. She’s easily a standout hero and one of the top 10 fighters who completely lived up to the hype. Without her the heroes would have been in a super bad spot. Also one last hero I forgot to mention is Tokoyami who doesn’t do a ton yet but the situation becomes personal to him since Hawks was his mention. You look forward to seeing more out of his shadow since it does have the potential to be one of the top abilities at some point.

Now lets talk about the villains. First up is Garaki who is the evil scientist. The guy is pretty smart but more on the whiny side so I can’t take him super seriously. He’s not exactly a top fighter after all and he is really carried by the Nomu. Of course he helped invent them so props there but he gets outshined by the other villains. Then we have Mr. Compress who gets the smallest role from the League of Villains. He does get one big moment where he really gets to show off his stuff though. So I won’t be forgetting him anytime soon but it would have been cool if he could have fought more.

Since the show mainly ignores Spinner, I’m gonna do the same. Toga is still a very emotional fighter who is super in denial of how evil she is. All of her arguments against the heroes don’t really make any sense and I can’t feel bad for her. She murdered an old lady after all. The heroes just need to take her down at this point. Now Dabi is a very intense villain. The guy’s motives are interesting and his blue fire really stands out. He’s always been one of the most interesting villains in the series. It’s hard to keep him down at any point because he has so much drive. You’d almost think he was one of the heroes with how hard he keeps fighting, no matter what the odds are. Yeah this is definitely someone to keep your eye on.

Destro is unfortunately a villain who really fell down the rankings. The guy used to be so cool all the time and now he is just a shadow of himself. He’s a complete lackey who just takes orders while whining. There is nothing left of his absolute confidence in the slightest. I used to like him a lot but he’s awful now. Meanwhile Gigantomachia feels like he was nerfed a bit. The guy just isn’t causing the level of destruction that he should be considering how much hype he got. I would have liked him to have done a little more but again the problem is that the villains were too powerful. It seems like being nerfed was the only way to keep things close at all for the heroes.

Not a villain but I will mention that Mirio gets a small role that is pretty fun. It’s surprisingly not built up quite as much as you would expect considering what a big character he is. I suppose there just wasn’t time. Speaking of powerhouses though, we had the return of Muscular which was awesome. It was cool to have a rematch with him and Deku. The victor is rather obvious but I always liked this guy and he still makes for a fun antagonist.

Then we have Lady Nagant. She actually thinks she can hang with Deku? Well that may seem like a stretch but the show does its best to make this a real matchup. I think the problem is just that Deku should be wayyyyy faster than her bullets to the point where they should never be able to land. The fight is intense with the animation though and Nagant has a good backstory. She ends up being a super interesting villain and I would definitely want to see more of her at some point. In a lot of ways she would be the ultimate support fighter for any side because of her crazy range. While the hero is distracted all she needs is one shot and then that’s it.

Twice gets a rather huge role here as we learn more about the guy. His origin story isn’t overly traumatic or anything like that but he’s still been through a whole lot. It hasn’t been an easy journey for him at all. The whole situation feels sad for him because it does seem like he can’t do anything right. He’s also someone who could have easily been a hero if he had fallen in with the right crowd. It just goes to show that sometimes the people you hang around with are the ones you take after. It can be difficult to get out of that cycle.

Finally we have the two big villains. All for One has mostly taken a backseat to Shigaraki for now. At least on the battlefield but he is always making plans. He makes for a good mastermind kind of character but he’s the type of figure where it will all depend based on how he does once it’s actually time to get out there and fight. Anything less than a commanding victory will look bad for him. That may sound harsh but that’s just how it goes.

Then we have Shigaraki. He’s one of those villains you don’t feel bad for but to his credit, he isn’t asking for sympathy anyway. He’s basically embraced his villain status at this point and he’s a very intimidating figure. The fact that he can take on so many heroes at once at this point is crazy. He is basically an evil all might and his new design is very memorable. He’s a villain who has consistently gotten better over the seasons and the author has done a good job with him. You look forward to his next battles.

Overall, My Hero Academia continues to execute on a high level. There are a whole lot of characters running around and longer series always have an edge with the payoff here. My Hero has had plenty of time to build up all of the heroes and villains so it’s a lot of fun to see them mixing it up. The season ends with the next big battle very close to starting up as well so you can bet that season 7 will be another winner. This Stars n Stripes hero looks amazing, should be a real good help against the enemies going forward!

Overall 8/10

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